About the book!!

The Black Watch Conspiracy is a fictional story about a family that were killed when a ship, the Black Watch, sank in 1900 off the coast of Port Macquarie. Although fictional, I have tried to include some facts about what it was like living in a coastal town like Port Macquarie during that time.
Towns like Port Macquarie were serviced mainly by ships which delivered produce from the city and picked up local raw material. Many of the ships also carried passengers between the cities and coastal towns. Unfortunately many ships came to grief due to bad weather, poor navigational information, and the limitations of the older style sail and steam powered ships. The North Coast Railway passed by Port Macquarie in 1910 changing the way goods were transported marking the end of the town's harbour traffic.
Page    lists ships sunk off the coast of Port Macquarie. Besides the Black Watch, the list is accurate and was obtained from shipping records available through the Port Macquarie Museum http://www.port-macquarie-historical-museum.org.au/index.htm.